Are You Still Climbing the Ladder?
Toss Out the Ladder, and Climb a Mountain Instead
Most of us have ambitions to grow in our leadership journeys – to expand upon our knowledge and go past our current levels of responsibilities. It’s human nature, after all, for people to desire growth and expansion.
Stop Climbing the Ladder
In the context of the workplace, though, and especially of the general work culture in the US, this idea of career growth is often referred to by a specific phrase: climbing the ladder. In a traditional context, this might look like starting out in a certain field as an Assistant, then being promoted to a Coordinator, Supervisor, then perhaps a Manager, then a Director, and so on.
It’s easy to understand why the idea of measuring growth in this way might be appealing; it’s a very straightforward process, easy to follow in theory, and gives our minds a predictable path to follow to be “successful” – and our minds love it when things are predictable.
Earlier in my career I went from an instructional designer and facilitator to the Director of a multi-million dollar company overnight, managing the strategy of the business and the performance of multiple employees located at various client sites. I crashed and burned within the year; I’ll never forget the analogy that still lives bright within me as I teach leaders to elevate their leadership capabilities. One morning, I parked on the 5th floor of the parking garage and had to take the elevator down to the ground floor, get off, and then hop on another elevator to go up to my third floor office space. This trip felt poignant that day. As I rode the elevators, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Sometimes, you have to go down to go up.” And that is exactly what happened in my career. I stepped out of the Director role and started applying for supervisor roles in an effort to learn the leadership skills I had skipped along the way. I had hiring managers call that out from my resume: “Why are you applying for a supervisor role when you have already been a Director?” they’d ask, likely wondering if something was wrong with me.
So, here’s where I have reservations about measuring career success through the analogy of “the ladder”. A ladder is purely linear, and it therefore doesn’t pay homage to the importance of being able to expand organically and increase impact in the way that is right for each of us wherever we sit on the organizational chart.
Growth Mindset
From a company view point, when you’re leading an organization that aims to go beyond maintaining the status quo, and instead aspires to create true impact in its industry and grow to meet the changing needs of our times (what we call a “growth company”), then having a team of people who are static in their roles until they reach the “next level” in their vertical climb does you no good. What you need, in this case, is a team empowered to expand and meet their potential where they are, moving within the organizational structure fluidly in order to better support the level of impact and operation of the organization as a whole.
Another story: I once worked for an international hospitality and adventure company with a complex business model where I was supporting the development of leaders across the enterprise. There were numerous times where a leader in one vertical wanted to lead another business unit. Due to the pay structure, the only way they could do that was to go down to go up; in other words, they would have had to take a demotion within the new operation even though their leadership skills were up to the task of a promotion. So instead of supporting the career growth and knowledge expansion of a motivated leader, the business structures and policies inhibited not only those individuals’ growth, but the growth of the business overall.
This is why instead of a ladder, I prefer the analogy of a mountain (and as a Colorado resident, this example really hits home). When you climb a mountain, the air gradually grows thinner, and it becomes more difficult to function because your body is accustomed to living at a lower elevation. However, as you train your body to operate at this higher level, it acclimates, and soon you find that your body has expanded its capacity to live and operate in this new space. As you move up the mountain step by step you expand your capacity with each increase in elevation. At times you hike straight up the hill, and at other times you must take the path of tight switchbacks that expand your views from one direction to the next, sometimes with little elevation gain, so it seems.
This is similar to what happens when employees at all levels are part of creating solutions and pathways for impact in an organization; with each new challenge, everyone is asked to rally and expand in order to meet this new need, and in doing so, they grow in their abilities. When you’re climbing a ladder, your growth is based on getting to that next level; but the mountain analogy is really about moving into new spaces that challenge you, and growing into them, and then doing it again, and again. Because this is what happens in real life at work, right? A challenge comes up, and we need to meet it in order to reach our goals; and then tomorrow, a brand new challenge emerges, and so on.
What we need, then, to meet the challenges our organizations face, is people at all levels of the team who are empowered to be the solution. We must have leaders at every level who are willing to share the responsibility – meaning the model of the “head” of a team making all of the key decisions or being the sole owner of key knowledge is not helpful here; instead, we must be willing to spread that knowledge and sense of accountability, and empower our people at every level to know and do within their areas, as well.
Fire Fighter to Innovator
A great example of this is of one of our recent clients. We’ve been working with them to understand what has been holding their team back from operating in a way that reflects their highest potential. In short, a majority of their team was stuck in what we call “Fire Fighter Mode”, where their leaders often used their time addressing issues on the ground that other team members might have been empowered to address themselves. They’d created a department-wide habit of relying on long-time employees in leadership positions to help with ground-level issues. In so doing, the leaders were being held back from leading at the necessary level, and meanwhile the rest of the team was functioning at limited capacity instead of being able to bring forth solutions themselves (which in itself is leadership development).
The image below is a great snapshot of where their team began, in fire fighter mode, and where they’d decided collectively they’d like to be. While the image may remind you a bit of a ladder, it’s actually much more aligned with the mountain analogy. As you’ll see it’s all about expanding a team’s capacity to address new challenges and serve others.
Resource: Info-Tech Research Group
One of the biggest things we have found through our work with this client is a need for all employees, at every level in the department, to have the space to expand their capabilities and think from a strategic perspective to support the larger team in doing so. Leadership team members, for instance, needed to pass down their knowledge and skills and allow others to step into them, thereby freeing up their own time and energy to be of better support to those team members and think more strategically. Other team members needed to have the support and agency to problem solve and offer up solutions that perhaps their leaders may never have thought of. In short – they all needed the space to know and do in another capacity, and needed to give each other permission to do so.
So how do you assess where your team needs to grow to expand in their roles where they are? First, you need to determine where the holes are in your team’s supportive foundation:
Do they have the systems and tools they need to expand their responsibilities in place?
Do they understand the scope of their roles and where they can be most helpful to the overall team?
Do they work within a culture that promotes collaboration, asking questions, offering solutions, and the like?
These are all important questions to ask when trying to set your team up for high impact. A great tool to use (and what we use for ourselves and our own clients) is our PRIDE assessment, which looks at 5 key drivers that create the environment for healthy, effective high performing teams and organizations: Purpose, Roles, Infrastructure, Dynamics, and Execution.
In short, the name of the game shouldn’t simply be to master one level of leadership and then move on to the next rung in the ladder to own the next title. It should be to learn and grow, over and over again as needed, so that you’re able to apply your knowledge in new ways as challenges and opportunities arise.
That is how you practice a growth mindset, become a growth organization, and create true impact in changing times.
Here’s to your growth!
Integrated Growth specializes in organizational effectiveness and leadership consulting. We build award winning leadership development programs, facilitate strategic planning and team development initiatives, and provide coaching for leaders and their teams.
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AUTHOR – Gretchen Reid is the Founder and Chief Change and Leadership Architect for Integrated Growth. She has spent over 25 years coaching leaders and creating award-winning Leadership and Talent Development Programs, directly contributing to multiple awards for her clients, including Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies, Forbes America’s Best Employers List, Forbes Best Employer for Diversity, and ASTD BEST. She is an Adjunct Professor of Change Management in the Strategic HR Masters Program, Denver University, University College. (MS, Career and Human Resource Development, Rochester Institute of Technology, BA, Psychology & Business Management, University of Rochester)